Mystery Dungeons and Ancient Vaults
by Zocarik
Summary: The Mountain is the only place safe from the Mystery Dungeons. When a gateway opens on a cliff, it reveals a creature long thought extinct. A human. One human and his Pokémon search the Dungeons for the cause of the extinction. Pokémon belong to Nintendo. This work is fanfiction. For entertainment and promoting thought, not profit.
1. Memories Absent

Cast:

Martin

Delphox- male

Zoroark- female

Serperior- male

Alolan Ninetales- female

Noivern- male

Emolga- male

Mienshao- female

Leavanny- female

* * *

Martin woke, surrounded by the warm bodies of his Pokémon. Disentangling himself from the pile, he got up and stretched.

Glancing around, he checked his team. Delphox and Zoroark barely stirred from the nest the two had built. Serperior coiled around the perimeter of the warm fox nest. Ninetales curled her icy tails around her small blanket nest to the side. Noivern hung from a perch built into the ceiling. Leavanny had folded herself into a nest box set near a small book shelf. Emolga still snored from atop Martin's head, not bothered in the slightest by his movements. Meinshao flopped across a couch.

Wait, Leavanny?

Martin jerked back to look at Leavanny. Recognizing the Bug as the one that belonged to his mother, Martin took a second look at the room.

The familiarity of the unfamiliar had blinded him. Being a Trainer on a Gym tour, Martin barely noticed being under an unfamiliar sky or ceiling each morning.

Now focused, Martin catalogued the room. Or rather, rooms. The chambers were arranged like an apartment. The bedroom had nests designed for each member of his team, and the one Leavanny occupied. There were even extra nests and furniture. One door led to a well-stocked bathroom and grooming room. The other led to a large living area. A kitchenette occupied one corner, while the rest of the room had entertainments like a complicated climbing tower for Serperior and Emolga. Martin checked the two regular doors to find large store rooms, one full of preserved food, and the other full of Pokémon gear ranging from medicines to battle items to traveling gear. A structure resembling a vault door covered in warning colors covered part of the far wall. It was a lot more complicated, with dozens of pistons, bars, and strange circuitry patterns across it. Everything was lit by indirect lighting panels on the ceiling.

"Well, whoever put us here wanted us comfortable," Martin said to himself. Transferring Emolga from his head to a branch of the climbing tower, Martin set to work preparing breakfast. The pantry had plenty of Pokémon food, but relatively little human food.

Martin's serving was finished and eaten by the time Emolga woke up.

Feeling the touch of Emolga's mind, Martin let him in. Martin had discovered his Warrior Trait when he bonded his soul to a stray Fennekin. Once he began his Gym journey, he took to bonding with his Pokémon before considering catching them. If their souls worked with him, then he brought them onto his team. It had taken some time in the bigger libraries, but he had learned that his connection to Fennekin had enough power flowing though it to boost his team and qualify as a Warlord. Maybe it was an unfair advantage, to empower his team and have perfect coordination and communication in battle, but there were no League rules against it.

"Um, what?" As usual, Emolga simply spoke his mind. "I have no idea where we are. Which is really strange given the smell of this place. It smells familiar."

"I am as confused as you," Martin said. "We will be discussing our arrival here, but only after everyone is a wake and fed."

Nodding, Emolga snagged the dish of nuts and fruit slices Martin had already set out and began to eat. Over the next hour, everyone woke up and got their breakfast.

"Awake everyone?" Martin asked. The team affirmed that everyone was awake enough to think. "Good. Now, does anyone have any idea how we ended up here?" As he spoke, he leaned on his gift, letting the voices reach him.

Meinshao spoke up, her voice, as always, a whisper. "This place smells of us. Smells like we've been here for days."

"Even I picked up on the smell," Emolga said.

 _"And the training gear in this room is ideal for all of us,"_ Noivern added his thoughts. It had to be his thoughts, given that his voice occasionally cracked glass when it was normal, and was infrasonic otherwise.

Ninetales retreated from the mind-delving she had been doing. "I can't find anything in any of our minds. Scattered fragments of broken sights and sounds but nothing more."

"So we were imprisoned, yet given comforts to make our stay comfortable," Serperior said. "How considerate. If only our jailors hadn't erased our memories."

Delphox had spent the whole talk looking through the books from the nest room. "Not prison. Books say shelter. Referenced riding out something, and living to see something else."

Zoroark stared in worry. "Are you being stupidly mysterious again, or are the books incomplete?"

"One, I am never stupid. Two, the books are incomplete. And have notes in Martin's handwriting, saying the books are true."

Martin sent soothing emotions through their heads before a fight could break out.

"Any idea why the dead tree sheets are incomplete?" Serperior never let go of a chance to insult paper books, much preferring electronic media.

Sparing a moment to glare at the snake, Delphox explained. "Books identify some state of dimensional distortion. Said that instructions are carved into the exit door."

Everyone stared. Even without being spiritually linked, thoughts flowed in parallel. _Dimensional distortion? What have we gotten into?_

"No use sitting around. Let's get outta here," Emolga glided toward the big structure.

"Wait," Martin spoke. "Leavanny, I don't know how you got involved in this mess. I don't know where mom is. But I do know that it will be easier to work and fight together if necessary if we link. Are you willing to go through with that?"

All eyes turned to Leavanny.

"Martin, you forget who you're talking to," Leavanny said. Martin could here both the chirps of her voice physically, and the meaning coming through as an echo via his team. "I was your mother's starter. I helped make your diapers. I couldn't leave you alone if I wanted to."

Martin bowed, respectful of his old nanny, before beginning the link.

Linking, creating a Warrior connection, a Warlord connection, could not be truly described. It was an act of soul. The best metaphor was that of one of those desk toys. The one where two colored liquids flowed, one up, one down. As the awareness flowed between human and Pokémon, they could hear each other's thoughts. Memories leaked through. Martin witnessed, felt, the memory of evolution, old carapace splitting off as new limbs grew. Leavanny felt an echo of the aches from Martin's last growth spurt. As the link stabilized, Martin and Leavanny felt their hearts beat in sync for a moment.

 _"Woah. I can feel their minds brushing mine,"_ Leavanny's thoughts rippled through the link.

"Woah. I can feel their minds brushing mine," Leavanny spoke aloud, gesturing to the other Pokémon. She then heard their thoughts and perceptions as she spoke, generating an echoing loop.

At that point, Leavanny had a small breakdown from feedback.

Noivern waddled over and engulfed the bug in a wing hug while she came down from the fresh-link buzz.

Leaving Noivern to calm Leavanny, Delphox walked to the carved wall.

Delphox opened a small case, pulling out a crystal. Inserting it into a corresponding slot on the door, the mechanisms began to turn. It looked to be a slow process.

Martin decided to grab some supplies from the tool closet and the pantry. Whoever set him up had left ten cargo capsules and a set of armor reinforced bags designed for multiple body types. Strangely, there were no Pokéballs. The abundance of rechargeable technology and a cartography computer raised Martin's eyebrow. With nearly a month of supplies ready, there was nothing else to do but wait as the door opened.

After an hour, the lock disengaged completely. Martin turned the handle. The first waft of air came through. Everyone, even Martin, smelled something off about the air coming in through the door.

"There's nothing," Meinshao stated. "Not even the cold smell of a cave. All the scent is gone from this place."

The lack of smell was almost more disturbing than the smell of rotting flesh, which all of them had discovered on one route or another. The lack of light only made the situation more creepy.

Noivern started trying to map beyond the door with echolocation. Meinshao was on the ground, struggling to pick up the faintest hint of odor.

With Noivern leading the way, the team made their way to the bigger open area.

The unknown facility had no obvious lighting systems. Delphox had to provide a flame for illumination, and Serperior kept the air breathable. What little could be seen, showed a simple design. The walls had directions marked on them. Prints of various famous paintings interrupted the hall every dozen steps.

In minutes, they found light. Giant hoops of blue crystal oscillated around a green crystal ball. Somehow, the whole assemblage generated the light. The cavernous room had three hallways leading away, and massive version of the complicated vault door from before. One hallway had a sign labeled Records. The second, Supplies. A quick check identified that they had come from the Residential Wing.

Seeing Martin's gaze, Delphox noted their origin. "So we are residents? Then why the memory loss or lack of hallway lighting?"

"I really hope this isn't some sort of social experiment performed by demented scientists," Leavanny said.

Martin started walking towards the Records wing. Delphox headed to the door to see how it worked and how to open it. Ninetales took a look down the supplies hallway.

A long hallway stretched ahead, revealing doors. A few glances revealed rooms stacked high with shelving units. Half would feature long storage data disks, and the other half had variable contents. Statues, art, musical instruments, cultural relics from around the world.

One room, clearly fitted for books, had no books. The disks were missing. The shelves sat empty. Not that anything in the room would have carried a load, as all had been twisted and warped by unknown forces. Even the walls appeared warped. Martin linked and let the others see. Ninetales responded with images of gear-doors spaced wide apart in the Storage wing.

Returning to the intersection, Martin sat on a bench near the slowly creaking, clanking, and turning door.

The slow, methodical twisting and turning of the gears on the massive door were almost hypnotizing. Momentary, yet endless. Time stood still even as the gears marked a passage.

Eyes glazed from watching an endless dance of gears and screws blinked as the door started pulling apart along the middle.

The sunlight beamed in through clean air. Clean air that shivered with the voices of many Pokémon.

* * *

Peace reigned across the mountain. No name existed for the mass of stone and soil, as no name had ever been needed. All Pokémon knew that the mountain was the mountain, the safe haven from the savage madness that plagued all lands beyond its protective peak. No more than twenty miles from its base, space and time warped around various Mystery Dungeons. Only the mountain could keep them at bay.

The earthquake centered around the Great Cliff drew immediate attention.

Facing the sea, a smooth expanse of rock jutted perpendicular to the earth. The rumbling as the rock began to crack and fall apart left dens, natural and artificial, in disarray as everything trembled. The sky turned dark with swarms and flocks of flying Pokémon panicking or trying to get a view of the source of the disturbance. Hardly a single Flying Pokémon stayed on the ground. Most of the Levitating Pokémon even took to the skies.

As all of the Mountain community felt the quake the Ground Pokémon traced the trembling to the Great Cliff.

A crowd gathered and saw more parts of the cliff crumble away, revealing a massive structure. Gears, screws, and strange rods had lain immersed in the mountain for ages, now being revealed. The one Klinklang that had gotten into a position to observe began to sing a metal song to Magearna, believing the Clockwork Goddess at work. Several Fairies started to shift away from the gear.

With the last bit of the cliff that fell off, the full glory of the clockwork structure was revealed. Intricate patterns, confusing connections, and at the middle of the ground level portion, a strange crystal. Light emanated from the crystal in a way most similar to an aurora, or the dancing lights shining through clear water. The crystal pulsed, warping the light and distorting the center of the mechanism.

An archway of crystal gears , linked, turning, yet stationary, assembled itself in the distortion. The structure within began to turn, pulling back and revealing a space illuminated by an Unown light.

A group of Pokémon emerged, protectively surrounding a strange creature. Standing tall as a Slowking, it resembled an anemic Machoke with peach skin and a tuft of brown fur on its head.

Martin looked upon the world. Dropping to his knees at the sight of the sheer mass of Pokémon, he felt a collective thought build up among his Pokémon.

 _This bodes… something. Something big. Good or evil? Unknown._

* * *

Authors Notes:

This story takes place in a connected Heacanon I am making. It is first posted over at Spacebattles, in a Sidestory on my Expanded Pokédex thread. The Expanded Pokédex will be uploaded here at a rate of one chapter a day, starting tomorrow, until I have caught up.


	2. A New Journey Begins

Edit made to bring Archmage Delphox description in line with finalized design in EP.

* * *

A minute passed as Martin and his team observed the crowd of Pokémon, wary for any signs of aggression.

Wisps of aura gathered in the corner of Mienshao's eyes. She would never be as good as a Lucario in sensing aura, but anyone that can use Aura Sphere sensed the energy to a limited degree.

She quietly gave her observations. "They're nervous. Scared. …and I see a Lucario approaching."

Nine pairs of eyes watched as the Aura Pokémon walked across the gap. Stopping a dozen meters away, he opened his eyes.

"Why did your strange group come here? How did you emerge from the Mountain?"

Mienshao stepped forth. Lifting an arm, she gathered a bit of her aura. The sincerity in her aura reinforced her words. "We don't know. We were traveling, when we woke up in a chamber inside. We've never seen this place before."

"Then this does not need to involve violence," Lucario said. He tilted his head. "And what is that strange Pokémon? I've never seen an aura like that. How is its aura mixing with all of yours?"

"He's not a Pokémon. He's a human," Mienshao said.

Lucario frowned in confusion. "I thought humans were just stories told by Fairies? Didn't they go extinct?"

Two hours had passed before Martin came back to full awareness of his surroundings. Learning of the possible extinction of his species had that effect. That four different Fairy types had been struck with awe seeing a still living human confirmed the extinction. Delphox had to keep a grip on Martin's arm to keep him moving with the tour they were given.

"What now?" Martin asked, hints of desperation in his voice and loads of despair beginning in his mind. "A world without humans. What do we do? Where do we go?" Leavanny folded her arms around his shoulders in a gentle hug, feeling her own misery over the loss of her former human partner.

The whole team fell silent. Even nearby Pokémon who couldn't understand humans had overheard that a human, an endling, had appeared. The misery was clear.

"We find out what happened," Delphox uttered, solemnly. "We find the cause. Then, we find someone like Hoopa to send us to another world. Use the facility as a base of operations. Scout. Find new home."

Silence fell.

"Sounds like you need to join the Explorer Guild."

The team turned to look at the Mudbray that had been guiding them around. Emolga gestured for her to continue.

Mudbray took on a distant tone. "The stories say we used to live different. Hunters would hunt and guard their nests. Foragers would forage. But everything changed when the Mystery Dungeons rose. As they encroached, some resources became hard to come by. There's no space or supplies for all of us. Since the Mountain is a sanctuary, the predators cannot hunt around here. There's not enough land, even with Pokémon like us Mudbray and the Dugtrio to make enough plants for the herbivores. The Guilds developed. Everyone joins one. With help from the Guild, Pokémon can get the supplies they need to survive."

"Each Guild caters to Pokémon that want or need to live a specific lifestyle. Y'all will want the Exploration Guild, since they are the only ones that venture far outside of the Mountain's protection. They are the only ones that keep the largest maps and Divine Locations."

Word became action, and the group headed to find this Explorer Guild. Located halfway to the edge of the Mountain's protection, it was a rough structure. Large, towering as tall as a Wailord, and sprawling out in multiple directions.

Serperior taped his chin with his tail. "Looks like that section was made by a Timburr or Gurdurr, and that over there looks like Vespiquen building…"

"We get it," Emolga interrupted. "This place is nothing like human architecture. No consistency. No planning."

With Serperior leading the way, they entered the Explorer Guild.

Inside, the walls bore markings just as mix-and-mash as the outside.

"And what would the Mountain's latest hot gossip be doing out here?" a voice sounded from above. A glance up showed a Ferrothorn stationed as a guard.

"We hear that this is where we would have the best chance of finding what happened to the human population." Serperior responded.

"We don't have any sort of Chronicler here."

"We mean to search the world to find any traces of what happened."

"Oh, ho-hee-hee. You want to explore? Then you are definitely in the right place." Ferrothorn moved one weighted vine to smack a pendulum covered in bits of metal scrap. The sound echoed. Mere moments later, a Beedrill came buzzing out of a passage.

"Yo, we got some new adventuresome types that want to join." Ferrothorn gestured to Martin's team.

A vibrating buzz, almost as soft as a purr, came from the Bug. She looked over the assembled team. "I presume that you all want to be registered as a single team, to be sent on tasks as a unit?"

Seeing the nods, Beedrill waved a stinger toward a passage. "Go straight down that way until you reach the cleared training ground. I'll be along with some others to test your combat skills."

That was how Martin and his team found themselves standing before a large gate and an open chamber beyond.

"Somewhere in this chamber is an entrance to a fake Mystery Dungeon. Find it, navigate the Dungeon, and bring back the Guild Bag at the end. Prove your worth. Only four in the Dungeon at a time. Once they have gone deep enough, you will be able to send in the next group."

Moments of internal discussion followed, before Leavanny, Mienshao, Noivern, and Emolga stepped forward.

Breaking up, they started combing the chamber in a grid formation, Martin mentally relaying their paths against each other. Noivern, from a flying vantage point, echo-spotted the entrance first.

All four entered. Below ground, the light came from energetic crystals, giving a soft, dusky tone to the maze. They split up again, taking the four passages out of the first room.

Leavanny was the first to run into trouble. A pair of Butterfree blasted Sleep Powder at her from their perches on outcroppings. She dropped like a stone.

Martin, in a light trance above, immediately sent a signal to Emolga to go assist Leavanny. Upon arrival, he only needed one Thunderbolt to knock out both bugs. Going to Leavanny, he started shaking her.

Elsewhere, Mienshao and Noivern had gone on high alert after Martin told them what happened. Alertness paid off as Noivern threw an Air Slash at a Crowbat, and Mienshao punched a roaming Bewear into a wall.

Minutes passed, and eventually, Leavanny found a passage that led deeper. More minutes passed as the others convened on Leavanny's location with Martin's guidance. Leavanny had to use X-Scissor to deal with a Poochyena.

As the quartet descended deeper, a grinding noise came from above. The passage closed behind them.

Above, a Drilbur, half buried, waited for the signal to let the next wave down. When he felt the signal through the earth, he let the next ones through. Ninetales and Zoroark began their exploration. Seconds later, they sent a mental distress call to Martin. The passages had changed.

As Serperior spoke with the Drilbur, asking about the change and the random nature of the Dungeons, Ninetales and Zoroark walked in a pair through the tunnels.

Martin watched through the foxes' eyes. Judging them to be prepared, he turned to the first four. As he watched, he felt the blow she just took from a Rapidash. Seeing that, though injured, she had the situation under control, he started shifting his focus back and forth between each level. Minutes passed, and after half an hour, the first team reached another, deeper passage into the earth. Sending them down, he listened through their ears as the tunnels were re-arranged again. Team B reached their access into the deeper passages.

After a minute, Martin, Delphox, and Serperior began to descend. They moved slower than the others on accout of Martin's presence.

"I really should have gotten those off-road skates," Martin mutered. "I wonder if the warehouses in the mountain have a set."

All three teams continued to go deeper.

As minutes passed, Martin noticed an issue developing with the first team. All four were getting tired. Leavanny more than the others, being a bit out of shape from years at home with Martin's mother. Only Mienshao showed no signs of exhaustion.

[i]Mienshao, keep them together, and rotate which one of you walks in front. Zoroark, Ninetales, pace yourselves.[/i]

Floor after floor passed, and Martin lost all trace of awareness of time. Watching the collective travels of each team warped his perception of events. Noivern sending a signal that they had found something alerted them to the end. Six levels, and a large chamber in the final level. All four sat down at the chamber entrance, waiting for the rest to arrive.

Martin let his focus on them slacken. Turning his attention to Zoroark and Ninetales, he sent them a picture of their destination and orders to wait when they arrived.

Time passed, and finally, all three teams reached the final chamber, a large, rubble-strewn battlefield. Scars from countless attacks covered the area. Craters from Draco Meteor, burnt and fused masses of clay and sand, and twisted patches of bramble from Grass moves lay between open ground and boulders.

All eight of Martin's Pokémon had sustained injuries on the way. Nothing serious, but noticeable. More troublesome was the general hunger and exhaustion. All their moves had been at half effect as they navigated the final floor.

The same Beedrill as before appeared. "Well, you're all here. Now, come forth and face the Monster House. Any team arrangement, provided you have four or fewer fighters."

Ninetales and Leavanny walked forward. Ten Pokémon, all fully evolved, dropped from the ceiling.

Ninetales smirked. "Master, prepare your jacket." With that intro, she spat a ball of frigid energy to the ceiling, creating a Hail barrage. The watching Guild Pokémon could not understand the order that the human barked, but Leavanny simply pulled her Overcoat of leaves tighter before charging in with an X-Scissor. She landed a blow on a Crobat, before throwing a Razor Leaf at a charging Tauros.

Ninetales was hardly idle, setting up an Aurora Veil. Coupled with her Snow Cloak making her almost invisible in the swirling storm, she barely got hit and ignored the damage when she was. She danced among the enemy, boldly letting them surround her even as she blasted them with Ice Beams and Moon Blasts.

In moments, it was over. Ten unconscious Guild Pokémon lay scattered around two fighters, who had accrued almost no injury in the melee.

Mienshao and Emolga stepped forward. A team of Guild Drilbur pulled the defeated Pokémon into evacuation tunnels below the arena before another wave arrived. Even as the Guild fighters dropped in, Mienshao finished Regenerating the last of the damage she had taken getting through the maze.

Emolga darted forward with a Quick Attack, bracing for impact in the same manner as he used when enduring a contact move. Static built up, paralyzing the Gigalith. Mienshao danced through her foes, a bit of energy flowing into her headband. The Wide Lens she carried melded into her body, boosting her eyes. Her Jump Kicks landing with surety, her Low Kicks toppling heavy foes.

It was over in short order. Emolga would flit around, paralyzing everything, while Mineshao kept punishing their foes.

Noivern, Serperior, and Zoroark walked into the battlefield, prepared to add more scars to the terrain. Noivern sent a pulse of sound imbued with a bit of his energy to Frisk each foe for any items they might have been using.

[i]General Type Gems. Nothing special, but be cautious.[/i]

Zoroark opened by leaping into the crowd of foes and blasting the area with a Dark Pulse. The dust kicked up gave her an opportunity to disappear in an Illusion. Noivern and Serperior were moments behind. Noivern began to add to the chaos with Boomburst and Dragon pulse to kick up sand and disguise Zoroark's sabotage of the ranks of their foes.

Serperior laughed as he launched another Leaf Storm, letting the adrenalin burst boost his muscles and energy output.

As the dust settled, a lone Machoke shimmered, revealing a battered Zoroark. Serperior reached out with vines to support the others as they walked off the field.

Martin and Delphox strode forth, matching steps. The last ten fighters dropped into the field.

Delphox flew forward with a gentle Scratch directed at a Reuniclus. As he skipped away, he showed the Psychic Gem he had palmed. One Zebstrika made the mistake of trying to blitz Martin. Even as Martin lunged to the side, Delphox spun and fired off Telekinesis before unleashing Psyshock. The rest of the Guild fighters got the message. Don't touch the human.

Delphox turned to the remaining nine foes and snarled. Light poured from his body. In a moment as fast as a blink, yet long enough to observe individual steps, he Evolved. A mystic eye opened on his forehead. Beads of Mystic Fire formed at the ends of his 'robes'. His wand, formerly a simple stick, flooded with energy and transformed into a staff. The Guild beheld the ancient form of the Archmage Delphox.

A blur of orange and purple, and the Archmage stood over a pile of Elemental Gems, taken by a master Magician. None of the fighters felt his passing or touch.

In a voice echoing with power harkening back to the days when Delphox served as Ho-Oh's soldiers, he uttered one move. [b]"Mystic Blast."[/b]

A wave of prismatic fire, in which danced images of many of the Legendary Pokémon, shot from his staff. Nine foes braced, but all fell to the onslaught.

Delphox reverted to his normal form, collapsing to one knee in exhaustion.

With the fights over, Martin and his team walked through the battlefield and reached the treasure chamber. Bags, visibly containing supplies, lay atop an earthen dais.

A Vespiquen descended from the ceiling in a gentle glide. "Congratulations. We rarely see applicants that can hold their own against a Monster House as effectively as you did. Welcome to the Guild."


	3. Questions About Life

Martin:

Delphox- male

Zoroark- female

Serperior- male

Alolan Ninetales- female

Noivern- male

Emolga- male

Mienshao- female

Leavanny- female

edit made to Archmage Delphox description in last chapter.

* * *

Morning came to Martin slowly. Hours of battling through a maze, treating his team with what supplies he had, and getting the explanation of how working for the Guild would earn credit to get the guild to aid him. Between that and the tour of the mountain, the day had ended and landed hard on Martin's shoulders. Waking up with Delphox keeping him warm in the subterranean chill of the mountain made things more pleasant.

Preparing a light breakfast, he considered the logistics of his situation. Finite supplies of the high grade healing items, and an indefinite span ahead before he could hopefully find a Hoopa or Celebi or something to send him to a new world.

Leaving the breakfast out to his team, he wandered into the pantry, looking for Berries. Finding a decent stockpile, he checked the supplies closet.

Delphox woke to the sound of something crashing down as supplies were shifted around.

"Morning. Good or not depends on a reasonable explanation." Delphox twitched an ear as he watched his human drag himself out from under a box.

"We need sustainable supplies of food and medicine. I was checking to see if this place has any of those portable Berry Pots they use in Johto."

Delphox nodded at the reasonable explanation.

"And on the note of future planning, how are we going to deal with working for the Guild?"

Delphox grabbed some of the munchie mix set out, gesturing for Martin to continue.

"They said that a strange force keeps parties larger than four from entering the actual Mystery Dungeons, Right? Then that means we could do it as two teams of four, with one remaining behind, or we could try for other divisions."

Delphox closed his eyes, contemplating. "Recruiting some of the locals to help build long-term sustainability infrastructure would benefit all."

"Get a few Timburr to help build a terraced garden tower, perhaps?"

"Check the supplies wing for better building materials. Bribe a Conkeldurr with a chance to play with new building styles."

The quiet discussion continued as the rest of the team slowly awakened and ate breakfast.

Delphox, Serperior, and Mienshao headed to the Guild. The rest spread out to search for some likely helpers for their farming project.

As the trio reached the Guild, they saw a team of four leaving with half-stuffed bags. Delphox silently noted the team and decided that grabbing some supplies would be for the best. Walking inside, they were greeted by Ferrothorn's voice.

"Ah, Team Endling, for your first assignment? Don't worry, Beedrill won't send you to a really rough Dungeon just yet." Only a little attention turned their way as the younger explorers glanced at the team.

"What did you call us?" Serperior turned to stare at his fellow Grass Type.

Ferrothorn's vines waved in a grassy shrug. "Endling. You're all following orders from a creature that is the last of its kind. So, he is an endling."

"Accurate, if unpleasant," Delphox mused.

Serperior slinked over to a board covered in notices. A nearby Dugtrio began to explain the sections.

"From easiest to hardest, the missions are sorted Black, Purple, Blue, Green, Red, Orange, Yellow, White, and Gold. There are sub-levels within each category, but that's the basics. Generally, we get four kinds of missions. Rescue, Exploration, Treasure, Escort, and Hunting. And combinations of those four."

"Rescue and Escort are similar. Both involve Pokémon that are not strong enough to handle the Dungeon needing help. Just, in the one case you are guiding them and in the other they got stuck and need you to get them out."

"Treasure jobs can be as small as being hired to gather some Oran Beries in Berry Woods, or seeking out some fabulous artifact in one of the bigger dungeons. They pair with Exploration jobs, which I understand is the primary goal of your team."

"Hunts are about tracking down some Pokémon, either a criminal, a Dungeon Feral that is blocking a pass, or just some prey and taking them down. Any questions?"

"Why did the ranking go from green to red? Why not follow the order of the rainbow?"

"I think the logic was that easy jobs can be done in the dark by a blind Rattata, while harder jobs practically mandate using Flash to get enough light to glimpse the environment. But that's just the story I heard. Who knows at this point?"

Serperior started looking at the job board. As he tried to interpret the pawprint script used and piece together how the written form of Pokémon language had evolved, a Blitzle sidled up to him.

"Out of curiosity, are any of you interested in joining a better Exploration Team?"

Serperior glanced at the Blitzle in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, everyone on a team should be pulling their own weight and my boss's team is full of strong Pokémon. Hitmonlee has High Jump Kick and learned Close Combat recently. Plus, we've got Clefable. She routinely sweeps entire Monster Houses. Between all fifteen of us, we are pulling in five dungeon dives an outing. Leave that scrawny human behind and get in on a real team."

Serperior's eyes narrowed. "Why would any of us want to leave our Master?"

"Because it was not contributing to the fight? Why follow a leader that refuses to help out?"

Blitzle had all of two seconds to watch as Serperior turned and glared. Moments later, a vine whip smacked him headfirst into a wall hard enough to imbed him there.

Serperior slithered away, a job tag from the green section of the board in his grip.

As Blitzle pulled his head out of the wall, he muttered "That's how you want to play? Team Stryke will play."

As the trio checked the Guild's map to find their destination, Martin and the others were busy.

"-and then there will be more food. So, you in?" Ninetales said. She looked at the Conkeldurr foremon who ruled the district of Machop, Timburr, and evolutions of the same.

"You said you had supplies?"

"Yeah. The facility in the Mountain has large storage chambers full of equipment."

Conkeldurr nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "In exchange for letting us keep some of the supplies if we find them to our liking, we will build your garden tower."

Martin received the update on the building project persuasion and began opening up the storehouse looking for the construction equipment as the builders marched toward the facility.

As he and Ninetales guided the builders through the supplies hallway. Conkeldurr's voice echoed in the cold facility. Without tapping into the warlord connection, Martin had no idea what the foremon seemed enamored with, but architecture style seemed the most likely answer.

Finding the right door, Martin and Ninetales showed the construction team the room. Piles of wood, brick, cement mix, and steel girders lined the warehouse sized room to the ceiling. Even as Ninetales began to give a basic overview, Martin watched as a Gurdurr walked forward, entranced at the sight of the steel beam. Dropping the squared log it carried, it started to heft the girder. Tears flowed as Gurdurr danced for joy at finding such a desirable tool and weight to lift.

Ninetales started barking at the Conkeldurr. A rapid exchange followed, ending with the Conkeldurr uttering an order to his workers. Collectively shouting some acknowledgement, they rushed about, gathering supplies and transporting them to the entrance of the facility.

Watching the team of muscled builders start setting up a framework that would produce a terraced arch over the entrance to the facility, Martin knew that he had taken the first step toward surviving in this new world.

Miles away, and increasing the distance step by step, Delphox, Serperior, and Mienshao followed the simplistic map the guild had provided, leading them toward a Dungeon about a day's walk from the Mountain's foothills.

"So, I didn't catch it. What was our mission?" Mienshao asked as she watched the wind tease a tree's branches.

"Enter Dungeon. Retrieve commodity from Dungeon, bring to employer. Get a better grip on endurance over power." Delphox stared at the job description. "Dungeons have some practical use. Provide source of resources. Job needs two Warp Orbs. We are allowed to keep extra. No real idea what the Orbs do, but always loved new options in a fight."

The trio walked in silence for another five minutes before Mienshao started humming. Serperior, growling at the off key humming, grabbed her in a vine snare and carried the Fighting Type high enough above the ground to mute the noise.

"What letter were we on?" Serperior asked.

Delphox thought before answering "M."

"Okay then, Mankey target."

"Nosepass picker."

"Oranguru wanabe." Delphox's face twisted in horror at being compared to an Oranguru.

"Pansear's jump rope." Serperior growled at the insinuation of being weak enough for that.

The Unown game continued for hours, starting over several times. Finally, they reached the location of their dungeon.

Gazing at the twisted entry way, they began their preperations.

The exploration bag had been built on strange principles, behaving much line other equipped tools. Melding into the user's body, it opened a pocket space that the user could use to carry things.

The trio equipped their items. The Wide Lens caused Mienshao's eyes to shine. The Big Root Serperior wore interwove into his body, enhancing his capabilities. Delphox pulled out a large chunk of Charcoal.

Stepping past the entry of the dungeon, they felt a wave of confusion as the spatially-consistency-challenged location tugged at them. A first step in a real Mystery Dungeon.


End file.
